"Last of the urban cowboys": A 63-year-old former airline pilot is carving out a second career as a grass-fed beef rancher on 90 of his family's acres in north St. Louis County. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Cowboys in the desert: Amid desert mountains on the Yavapai County border, Date Creek Ranch and O X Ranch are returning to natural ranching techniques like rotational grazing used more than 100 years ago, and thriving by catering to a niche market of health-conscious consumers. (Arizona Central)

Latte-comers: What's the best way to boost sales at an independently owned coffeehouse? Shockingly, by having Starbucks move in next-door. (Slate)

The garbage man: Ari Derfel, a Berkeley catering company owner, has been saving his trash for 12 months. All of it. (Although he does compost the food.) (San Francisco Chronicle)

Milking an opportunity: The new president of Canada's Prince Edward Island Organic Dairy Producers Association says organic milk produces not only bigger profits, but healthier animals. (The Guardian)

Turnip sauteeing in action: Cooking demonstrations increase attendance, excitement and most importantly sales at farmers' markets, offering shoppers opportunities to taste and learn to use produce that is new to them, according to the Kansas Rural Center, which partnered with the USDA to develop "Cooking Demonstrations: Providing the Perfect Ingredients to Season Your Farmers Market" (PDF; via ATTRA)